Water gas process



July 17, 1934. AN 1,966,886

1 WATER GAS PROCESS Filed Sept. 5, 1928 Q ig' INVENTOR 3/ Z9 fieder/z/r H .Uecbam/r L 5 BY 25 MQNW ATTORNEY Patented July 17, 1934 UNITED STATES WATER GAS PROCESS Frederick H. Dechant, Beading, Pa., assignor to Industries of America, Inc., a corporation of Delaware Application September 5, 1928, Serial No. 304,115

3 Claims.

The present invention relates to a method for producing gas and power from Waste fuel.

More specifically the invention has for an object to provide a method of recovering heat values 5 from culm and silt coal.

Heretofore culm and silt coal has been considered a waste product and has been accumulated in vast heaps around anthracite coal mines. Efforts to use this material for the production of gas have met with little success, because the fusing of the cinder seals the producer against blasting. It is an object of my invention to avoid this difficulty by partially consuming the fuel in a gas generator, subjecting the incandescent fuel to steam to produce water gas, thereafter withdrawing the partly consumed fuel and completing the combustion thereof in the furnace of a steam boiler for the production of the steam required in the gas generator and also for the production of steam for power purposes.

Another object of my invention is to utilize the heat in the products of combustion generated .during the combustion period in the gas generator by passing said products into the boiler unit.

My invention is equally as well adapted for use with coke breeze. The economy-of the process lies in the ability to use very low grade anthracite coal and coke breeze for the production of water gas.

Another object of my invention lies in the combination of gas production and power generation in a composite set' of equipment.

With the above named objects in view and others which will appear hereinafter, I shall now describe a preferred form of my invention and thereafter shall point out the novelty and scope of the invention in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing,

Figure 1 is a view in vertical section of my improved gas generator and steam boiler; and

Fig. 2 is a view in cross section taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1 and viewed in the direction of the arrows.

In general the apparatus comprises a composite gas generator and boiler unit. The boiler unit furnishes steam for blasting the gas generator to produce water gas and also such power as is required to operate the gas generator and it also furnishes steam for other purposes. The generator, on the other hand, utilizes only part of the heat units in the fuel-and the partially consumed fuel is fed from the generator to the stoker of the furnace. It will be understood that there is a limit to the pressure of the blast which may be 55 employed in the generator and that the fuel in the generator must not be burned to such an extent as to seal the generator against blasting. In the boiler furnace, on the other hand, there is practically no limit to the amount of air pressure which may be employed to insure complete com bustion of the fuel.

The gas generator which is shown at 10 in Fig. 1 comprises a shell suitably lined with fire brick or other refractory material. The shell has an opening 11 at the bottom, immediately beneath 55 which is a chain belt or traveling grate 12. D1- rectly under the. opening 11 and bearing against the under face of the upper run of the chain grate is a blast box 13 through which steam or air may be fed into the generator through the fuel bed 7 on the grate,

Fuel is fed into the generator .from an overhead bunker 14 which is connected by pipe 15 with an opening in the top of the generator.

' The pipe 15 is sealed in said opening and is also provided with a measuring valve 16 operatively connected with the chain belt or traveling grate 12, so that when said grate is operated to withdraw fuel from the generator fresh fuel will be fed into the top of the generator through the measuring valve 16. An auxiliary pipe 17 runs from the bunker 14 to a chute 18 located beneath the forward end of the traveling grate 12 and the lower end of this chute leads to a traveling grate or stoker 19. The stoker 19 leads into the furnace 20 of the boiler unit 21 and thus fuel is fed from the bunker 14 through the pipe 17 direct to the furnace 20and also, when the grate 12 is running, partially consumed fuel is fed from the generator 10 .through the chute 18 to the furnace 20. A gate valve 12a serves to control communication between the generator 10 and the chute 18 and may be closed to prevent leakage of gas through the foundation of the producer. v

Leading from the top of the generator 10 are two outlet pipes 25 which are connected to a pair of cross headers 26 and 2'7. The header 26 is connected by a pipe 28 to the boiler unit 21 and the gate valve 29 in the pipe 28 serves to 1 control the admission of gasses from the generator to the boiler. Similarly, header 27 is connected to a pipe 30 under control of a gate valve 31. and said pipe leads to a gas holder (not shown). The valves 29 and 31 are pref- 5 erably operated by hydraulic means, and to this end the stem of valve 29 is provided with a plunger which operates in a cylinder 32 and the stem of valve 31 has a plunger which operates in a cylinder 33. The cylinders 32 and 33 are connected by a feed pipe 34 to a suitable source of hydraulic pressure, and a valve 35 in the pipe 34 is so arranged that on turning it in one direction to admit pressure to the cylinder 32 the cylinder 33 will be connected to an exhaust, and vice versa.

The operation of the apparatus is, as follows:

Initially the generator 10 is almost entirely filled with culm or silt coal, or other suitable fuel and, after the fuel has been ignited, combustion is supported by a blast of air introduced through the blast-box 13. During the air blasting period the valve 29 is open and the valve 31 is closed, so that the products of combustion pass out into the boiler unit 21. After the combustion period has continued sufficiently to ignite the fuel in the generator to apre-determined depth and has raised the temperature to a point high enough to produce .water gas 'but said temperature being lower thanthe fusing temperature of the ash, the air 'blast is cut off and the valve 29 is closed, andsimultaneously valve 31 is opened so that the generator is now connected with the gas holder (not shown). A blast of steam is now introduced through the blast box 13 and this, on coming into contact with the incandescent fuel, produces water gas. The water gas on its discharge to the gas holder is subjected to the usual scrubbing and cleaning processes by apparatus which forms no part of the present invention and hence is not illustrated. At the end of the gas generating period the gate 12a is opened and the grate l2 is actuated to carry off the partially consumed fuel from the generator and fresh fuel to take its place is automatically introduced through the valve 16. The grate 12 is operated until all the ignited fuel has been removed except a layer of sufficient thickness to insure ignition of the unconsumed fuel in the generator during the next com-- bustion period. The partly consumed fuel is conveyed by the grate 12 to the chute 18 whence it drops with the fuel from pipe 1'7 upon the travelling grate or stoker 19 and is carried into the furnace 20. Here an air blast is maintained of sufficient pressure to insure complete combustion of the fuel by the time it reaches the end of the stoker and the ashes are deposited from the stoker into a suitable ash bin 36.

While I have described a particular embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that various changes in construction and arrangement of parts may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention as pointed out in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a method of producing gas from culm, the steps which consist in, igniting a body of the fuel, effecting partial combustion thereof, arresting such combustion before a substantial amount of the 'ash content thereof has fused, passing steam through the partially consumed fuel to produce water gas, withdrawing most of the partially consumed fuel, and adding fresh fuel to replace the fuel withdrawn.

2. In a method of producing gas from culm, the steps which consist in, igniting a body of the fuel, effecting partial combustion of a portion thereof, arresting such combustion before a substantial amount of the ash content thereof has fused, passing steam through the partially consumed fuel to produce water gas, withdrawing all of the partially consumed fuel save enough to initiate combustion of the remaining fuel, and completing combustion of the partially consumed fuel in a boiler furnace to generate said steam.

3. In a method of producing gas from culm, the steps which consist in, igniting a bed of such fuel, effecting partial combustion of the fuel in a stratum of limited depth, passing steam through said stratum to produce water gas, and

withdrawing all of the partially consumed fuel save enough to initiate combustion of the remaining unconsumed fuel.

FREDERICK H. DECHANT. 

